Morphology Experiment of Icing Effect on Spray Propagation

The working conditions of combustion systems have been going extreme under the desire of human beings exploring the unknown. Cold environments can be a significant impact on the spraying of fuel not only by changing the fuel properties including viscosity and surface tension, but also by freezing the parts. In the present study, methanol spray from a commercial injector is studied via high-speed imaging, with the liquid fuel being frozen to sub-zero degrees at the injector tip. It is observed that water components from the environment will freeze at the injector tip, creating crystal structures on the surface. During the injection, the ice components will be flushed by the liquid, and the spray morphology of the starting cycle will be strongly altered, resulting in wider spray angles, much shorter penetrations, and particle structures can be observed in the downstream of the flow field. The results of the experiment provide a clear view and quantified evaluation of the freezing impact on spray development from practical injectors, and gives a sketch of the most extreme condition of the fuel spray before the valve is chilled to the bone and unable to open.